(SportsNetwork.com) - The Toronto Raptors will look to clinch a playoff spot for the first time since 2008 when they host the Boston Celtics tonight at the Air Canada Centre in the back end of a home and home. After picking up a rare win in Boston, the Toronto Raptors will be back on familiar ground when they host the Celtics Friday from Air Canada Centre. Terrence Ross led the Raptors with 24 points in a 99-90 triumph, while Kyle Lowry continued his recent tear with 23 and nine rebounds. DeMar DeRozan rounded out the 20-point scorers with exactly that many and Jonas Valanciunas ended with 15 points and 14 rebounds for Toronto, which has alternated results in the last six games. The Raptors broke an 11-game losing streak in Boston, last winning there on Jan. 23, 2008. "That was a character test for us," said Toronto head coach Dwane Casey. "I think this team has a lot of character. Situations were not there yet, but again its not from a lack of fight and togetherness." Casey needs three wins to reach 100 victories with the team. The Raptors last posted 40 total wins in a season in 2009-10 (40-42) and the fastest team to reach 40 wins was the 1999-00 squad after 70 games. The current unit needed 71 games to reach the mark. Lowry has scored 19 or more points in each of the last 11 games, averaging 22.5 points in that span. DeRozan is averaging more than 20 points per game against Atlantic Division foes. Toronto leads the division by 2 1/2 games ahead of Brooklyn and is even with Chicago for the third spot in the Eastern Conference. Toronto is 21-14 north of the border this season. Boston has lost two in a row and nine of its last 12 games, and was paced by Jared Sullingers 26 points (19 in fourth quarter) and eight rebounds on Wednesday. "Sully (Sullinger) got hot and I thought even though we were really undersized we played pretty well in that time," said Boston head coach Brad Stevens. Avery Bradley had 16 points, Rajon Rondo chipped in nine and 15 assists and Chris Johnson added 13 points off the bench. The Celtics shot 41 percent from the floor and had a 51-7 advantage from their reserves. The Celtics will try to stop an eight-game road losing streak in Toronto and have an 8-26 mark as the visitor. Their previous road win was Feb. 10 against the Milwaukee Bucks. Celtics forward Jeff Green had six points in 20 minutes on Wednesday and is bothered by a stiff neck. Green hopes to play against the Raptors. Rondo needed stitches to close a cut on his forehead and returned to the game to cover Raptors All-Star DeRozan. "I think it obviously says a lot. He wants to play and not only, I think the most important part about it is he came back in and guarded DeRozan (DeMar)," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said of Rondo. "He went after it and I thought he did a pretty good job on him." Toronto is 2-1 against the Celtics this season, but the latter has prevailed in four of the last seven meetings between the teams. Boston has lost two straight, four of five and five of its last seven trips to Canada. Derek Watt Jersey . "I have had no discussions with Chad Johnson or his representation," Popp said Friday in an email. However, he appeared to confirm a report on Twitter from TSN this week that Johnson was on Montreals negotiation list. Matt Slauson Jersey . Colorado came up big against Chicago last spring, and repeated that performance Tuesday night. Varlamov stopped 36 shots and Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche in a 5-1 victory over the Blackhawks. http://www.authenticchargersnflfansmall ... ersey.aspx. The Cavs announced the move Saturday, one day after LeBron James said hes returning to Cleveland. A 12-year veteran, Haywood has played in 794 NBA games, averaging 6. Corey Liuget Jersey . The Eastern Conference-leading Celtics finished their recent trek at 3-1 on Monday in Salt Lake City when Rajon Rondo made a key jumper with 24.1 seconds remaining, as Boston held off the Utah Jazz, 107-102, at EnergySolutions Arena. Spencer Pulley Jersey . Head coach Lindy Ruff confirmed on Sunday that his starting goalie has a head injury and the team will take it day by day. CHICAGO -- Hector Noesi thinks he is a better pitcher than he was when he struggled at the start of the season. One of his former teams got a closer look at his improvement on Sunday. Noesi pitched five-hit ball into the seventh inning for his first win in a month, leading the Chicago White Sox to a 1-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners. "Hes a tough kid," Chicago manager Robin Ventura said. "I mean, hes confident and he knows what he can do. Sometimes you get an opportunity and you run with it, and I think thats what hes done." Noesi (3-6) struck out five and walked two in 6 2-3 innings, bouncing back from a shaky outing against the Los Angeles Angels. The right-hander pitched for Seattle for parts of three seasons before he was traded to Texas after two April relief appearances. Noesi pitched in three games for the Rangers before he was let go again. Chicago claimed him off waivers April 25, and the crisp performance against the Mariners made him 3-5 with a 4.13 ERA in 14 games with the White Sox. "Yeah, it did cross my mind," Noesi said of pitching against Seattle, "but if I put it in my mind I would get lost trying to do too much." Chicago finished with just two hits after it had four in Saturdays 3-2 loss in 14 innings. But Conor Gillaspie scored on a wild pitch in the first and Noesi combined with two relievers on a five-hitter. Eric Surkamp got Robinson Cano to fly out with the bases loaded for the final out of the seventh, and Jake Petricka pitched two innings for his third save in four chances. The solid relief work came one day after the White Sox blew a 2-0 lead in the ninth inning. "We didnt swing the bats extremely well," Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. "Balls we did hit hard they made great plays on. Thats the way it goes. Thats baseball." Seattle right-hander Taijuan Walker (1-1) lasted just four innings in his second start of the season. The 21-year-old Walker, one of baseballs top pitching prospects, struggled with his control in his first loss in five major leaguue appearances.dddddddddddd The White Sox took advantage of Walkers wildness to grab the lead in the first. Gillaspie walked with two outs, advanced to third on Jose Abreus single and scored when Walker threw his first of two wild pitches on ball four to Adam Dunn. Walker then got Alexei Ramirez to bounce into a fielders choice, ending the threat. The White Sox left a runner in scoring position in each of the first five innings. Walker allowed two hits and struck out three while throwing 83 pitches on a humid day. He tossed six innings in a 10-4 victory at Houston last Monday in his season debut. "Command of my fastball wasnt there," Walker said. "Definitely going to go back and watch video and figure out whats going on with that." Dustin Ackley and Brad Miller had two hits apiece for the Mariners, who had won five of six. Gillaspie also walked in the third before he left with a bruised right knee after he was hit by a pitch from Dominic Leone in the fifth inning. Gillaspie took a few shaky steps toward first before he was replaced by pinch-runner Leury Garcia. "It sounded bad and he seemed like he couldnt do anything, so we had to take him out," Ventura said. Second base umpire Dana DeMuth also departed in the fifth with a strained hamstring after colliding with White Sox second baseman Gordon Beckham. The game continued with three umpires. NOTES: It was Noesis first win since June 9 against Detroit. ... Petricka has a string of eight consecutive scoreless appearances covering 11 innings, lowering his ERA to 1.85. "His progression and his rise through the bullpens been pretty impressive," Ventura said. ... Seattle returns home to face Minnesota in the opener of a four-game series Monday night. Mariners RHP Hisashi Iwakuma (6-4, 3.33 ERA) and Twins RHP Kevin Correia (4-10, 4.95) are slated to pitch the first game. ... The White Sox begin a four-game set at Boston on Monday night. RHP Scott Carroll (2-5, 5.05 ERA) takes on Red Sox RHP Clay Buchholz (3-4, 6.22) in the series opener.